


Christmas in Atlantis

by khyharah



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Atlantis, F/M, Hermione's Holiday Hideaway 2018, Holiday Hideaway 2018, Mini Christmas Trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 11:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16831372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khyharah/pseuds/khyharah
Summary: On assignment, Bill and Hermione are forced away from home to find the mysterious city of Atlantis. But is that the only thing they find while out to sea?





	Christmas in Atlantis

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Hermione/Bill  
> Location: Atlantis  
> Word Prompt: Miniature Christmas Trees
> 
> Merry Christmas to all!

The shimmering water gave everything an ethereal green tint to it as they descended to the bottom of the ocean. It was so surreal to be here in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea, sun shining above them, waters warm and pleasant even in the middle of December. A far cry from their homes in London, England that was for sure. But whatever Gringotts wanted, they pretty much got, much to the detriment of their wizard and witch employees. Holidays didn’t matter to them. They wanted something found, their employees were to find it.

But Hermione didn’t mind this assignment really. She was in a great environment with great company. It was just herself and Bill Weasley and no one else. And there was nothing better that she liked to do than to spend time with the eldest Weasley sibling. When she had started at Gringotts, Bill had become her mentor. It didn’t take them long to become close friends, especially after Fleur fled back to France, unable to deal with Bill’s more animalistic side. It was one thing during the war when everything had been chaos. But once life settled down, his possessiveness and temper around the full moon became too much for the beautiful woman’s independent nature. Since their wedding reception had been interrupted and the Ministry of Magic was in upheaval afterwards, their marriage was never registered, not even thought about in the many years between that event and when Fleur left. Thus, the marriage was never really binding and it was of no consequence to her, so off she went, leaving behind a man shattered beyond what he felt (at least at the time) could ever be repaired.

But things tend to change.

They had been on this particular assignment for only a week so far, but it didn’t matter. While it saddened them both a bit not to be home for Christmas, Hermione and Bill were secretly relieved to not be around the chaos that was a Weasley family gathering. Between all the spouses and children, adopted family members, and those that just tended to showed up, it was utter madness. Not to mention the constant hounding from the Weasley matriarch for both of them to “settle down” and reproduce like rabbits. As if 18 grandchildren already wasn’t enough.

Bill had found some glyphs in the ruins of Paestum in southern Italy, so Gringotts had immediately set their most qualified curse and code breakers to investigate. They were coordinates for an island, but not just any island. And island of advanced civilization of people that only rose to the surface every 400 years. The lost city of Atlantis. So they had spent their time on a small island about 20 miles from their scouting spot, collecting data on the ocean and its environment and confirming the location. After debating everything, they were now ready to dive.

They had pulled their boat out to the coordinates they determined, cast long lasting bubble head and anti-compression charms, and taken the plunge. They used weights to help them, increasing the weight as they got deeper. Soon, the green tint of the water got darker and darker until it was almost pitch black. They both cast dim _lumos_ charm to assist them until they hit bottom. But as they got lower instead of getting darker, it started to become lighter. A blue light seemed to be coming up from the floor of the ocean, where it shouldn’t be. Bill and Hermione exchanged glances as their surroundings became brighter and clearer.

Finally, what looked like a city came in to view. There could make out buildings and roadways. As they got closer, they could make out individual trees and clusters of flowers and what looked like grass. The silt on the floor of the ocean swirled gently around their feet as they landed in front of a tall building, at least 10 stories high. Bill pointed at himself and then at the building indicating he would go in there. Hermione nodded and pointed at the building next to them indicating she would go in there. She then tapped her watch and held up a finger. One hour. They parted ways and entered their separate buildings.

One hour later they returned to the spot they had initially landed and Bill could see the exhilaration in Hermione’s eyes. This was the feeling they both craved. The joy in a new discovery, the excitement of sharing it with someone else, the anticipation of new knowledge. It was all they both wanted in their lives and they were both getting it right now.

They continued exploring the city, looking for clues as to its demise and the culture that was lost. They found trinkets and books that, although they had been in the water for an indeterminate amount of time, still had legible writing on the pages. Though not in English, Hermione was sure she could figure the language out. The never found the source of the ambient light, but were very grateful for it as searching the city with just wand light would have been almost impossible.

Four hours later, they decided it was time for a break. They knew where the city was now and could explore and map at their leisure. A few items went into a special compartment in Hermione’s ever handy beaded bag. It was designed to keep the items in the same conditions that they were in whilst under water. Hermione was anxiety to get them into the light of day and start working.

Their ascent was made as quickly as safely possible and they both climbed onto the boat, finally able to speak. The first sounds out of both of their mouths was laughter of pure, elated joy. They couldn’t believe they had actually found it, that everything they had studied and processed and theorized had been correct. It was an amazing feeling. Bill quickly started the boat and they began the journey back to the island and their campsite.

“I really can’t believe it. It’s there, Bill, it’s really there!” Hermione was positively floating as they beached the boat and made their way over to the tent. Bill laughed at her enthusiasm and agreed with her. It was so awesome to be able to share this with her, someone who could truly appreciate the discovery for what it was. Her bright eyes and engaging smile was all the reward he really needed out of this trip.

They had stopped outside the tent and Hermione couldn’t help but stare at her companion. She knew he was as excited as her about everything and made her positively giddy. _Have his eyes always been that blue?_ Maybe it was just the ocean or the sun playing tricks. They stood there for several long moments, just staring until finally Bill ducked his head and cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go ahead and shower? I’ll get started on some lunch and then we can compare what we’ve found.”

Hermione’s face caught on fire with blush as she too ducked her head and nodded. “Yeah, of course, shower. You sure you don’t want to go first?” At the shake of his head, she made her way to the bathroom of the spacious tent. _I’m totally with Harry on this one, I do love magic._

The shower was warm and quick as she washed the sea salt from her body and hair. For some reason, she took extra care in her usual ablutions. _Oh don’t lie to yourself, you want Bill to notice._ She knew it may be inappropriate, but she found she didn’t really care. Over the years of working closely with him, Hermione had come to care deeply for Bill, not just as a friend or family member. She knew, somewhere along the line, she had fallen in love with him. Now if she could just get up the courage to tell him.

She opened the door to bathroom to the smell of pine and cinnamon and all spice. Altogether NOT the smell of the sun and beach and salt that she had become accustom to. Her eyes searched the room before gasping slightly at the site before her. To the left there was their small kitchen table loaded down with what looked like a roast duck, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes (one of her favorite guilty pleasures) and a bottle of wine. On the right side of the room, Bill was stooped over something that looked to be brightly lit from the glow that surrounded him. “What is this?”

Her voice made Bill jump away from where he was stooped. He spun quickly, hiding the item behind him. “All done then?” he asked. She nodded at him and a grin quickly spread across his face, the largest she had ever seen from him. “Well then, Happy Christmas, Hermione!” he stepped to the side and chuckled as Hermione gasped and covered her mouth. “I figured since we couldn’t be home for Christmas, I’d bring a little Christmas here. Do you know how hard it is to keep a stasis charm on a complete Christmas dinner for a week?” She laughed and looked behind him.

There stood the cutest miniature Christmas tree draped with popcorn strings and twinkling little fairy lights. He had even fashioned one the starfish they had found to the top of the tree. Beneath it was a blanket wrapped around the base and two little packages. “Oh, this is wonderful! Thank you, I really never expected anything like this. And you didn’t have to get presents, I don’t know where you would you even get them from.” She was so excited by this simple gesture, something that would seem minor and expected really if they were in London was something very precious to her there on the island.

Bill ducked his head blushing lightly. “Well, to be honest, I already had those picked out for you for Christmas. I brought them with me in case we were going to be out here that long. I wanted you to have them regardless of where we were.”

It was Hermione’s turn to blush because she had done the exact same thing. She had seen the athame at a bazaar they had wandered into whilst on mission Siberia. The mahogany handle had drawn her in, but it was the carving of the Horus that kept her attention and she knew it was made for Bill. She had also found a leather sheath for it. They often had to do something ritualistic in the field, so the knife, was not only beautiful, was also practical.

Muttering a quick “Be right back” Hermione ran to her bed and rummaged in her bag for the wrapped presents. She quickly brought them out and met Bill in front of the short tree. She admired it up close, pleased with his ingenuity. She now saw the little shells stuck to the tip of the limbs serving as ornaments. He knelt on the floor and Hermione quickly joined him. He picked up the packages and passed them to her, accepting the ones from her in the process.

The wrapping paper was quickly torn from each. “Wow, Hermione! This is amazing.” She looked up from the last piece of paper on her package to see him admiring the knife and sheath. He ran his fingers down the blade, careful of the edges before sliding it into the sheath and admiring the leather working.

“It’s charmed to stay tied to whatever you attach it to and a locating spell. I know sometimes things get misplaced.” He looked up from the sheath and smiled brightly at her.

“You going to look at yours now?” His face was filled with happiness, but there was a nervous edge to his voice. Hermione looked back to the package in her hands and finished removing the paper. It was a rare edition of _Moste Potente Potions_ , something that she had been looking for for several years. She beamed brightly at him, whispering “Thank you.” She moved to the box that lay beside her and pulled the lid away from the top and gasped. Laying on tissue paper inside the box lay an antique brass hair comb. There was a large pearl in the center surrounded by filigree and smaller pearls. It was beautiful and understated and so perfectly her. “I know you like to keep your hair down but you always brush it out of your way. I saw that and knew it belonged to you.” She gently picked it up and examined it closely before pulling her hair away from her face and sticking the comb in. One quick sticking charm and she knew it would hold. She summoned a mirror from her bag and checked it, giving an approving nod.

“Thank you. I love it. Happy Christmas, Bill.” She turned back to face him, only to find his face nearer than she expected. Her breath hitched as she stared into his eyes.

“Happy Christmas, Hermione.” He smiled at her, gently tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “There is one more thing that I wanted to give you. Though really, I think it’s a present for both of us,” he whispered, his lips barely a breath away from hers. Hermione knew what was coming and anticipated it greatly. Centimeter by centimeter they closed the gap between them until their lips pressed together in a gentle meeting. _Finally_ was the only thought that was running through either of their heads at that moment and then there was nothing as their kiss became a bit more urgent. Bill’s hand came up to lightly grasp side of her face as he tiled his head to accommodate the kiss better.

They continued for a few moments until the need for air became too much and they broke away, both smiling the idiots they had been for quite a while. There would be much to discuss over the coming weeks as they continued to explore the lost city of Atlantis and the blossoming relationship between them. But for this moment, right here, they would enjoy just being with each other and the start of something that was going to be simply amazing.


End file.
